title: Sequence organization and conservation in sh2/a1-homologous regions of sorghum and rice.
abstract: Previously, we have demonstrated microcolinearity of gene composition and orientation in sh2/a1-homologous regions of the rice, sorghum, and maize genomes. However, the sh2 and a1 homologues are only about 20 kb apart in both rice and sorghum, while they are separated by about 140 kb in maize. In order to further define sequence organization and conservation in sh2/a1-homologous regions, we have completely sequenced a 42,446-bp segment of sorghum DNA. Four genes were identified: a homologue of sh2, two homologues of a1, and a putative transcriptional regulatory gene. A solo long terminal repeat of the retroelement Leriathan was detected between the two a1 homologues, and eight miniature inverted repeat transposable elements were found in this region. Comparison of the sorghum sequence with the sequence of the homologous segment from rice indicated that only the identified genes were evolutionarily conserved between these two species, which have evolved independently for over 50 million years. The introns of the a1 homologues have evolved faster than the introns of the sh2 homologue. The a1 tandem duplication appears to be an ancient event that may have preceded the ancestral divergence of maize, sorghum, and rice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: SanMiguel
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bennetzen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D018745:Genome, Plant; D051599:Glucose-1-Phosphate Adenylyltransferase; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006109:Poaceae / Q000235:genetics*; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D010940:Plant Proteins; C111076:Sh2 protein, plant; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases; D051599:Glucose-1-Phosphate Adenylyltransferase